156 years ago today, freedmen and women in Galveston, Texas, celebrated their independence from slavery. Since then, it has become a national and worldwide celebration. Earlier this week, Juneteenth became a national holiday — which was long overdue. No thanks to Senator Ron Johnson who objected to this bipartisan legislation over the past year.

I’m proud to be participating in the 50th anniversary Juneteenth Day Parade in Milwaukee in honor of Juneteenth.

We must recognize the evident injustices that still exist throughout our country and especially in Wisconsin, which has some of the worst racial disparities we all need to confront. We must work toward ending these systems of oppression that have continued to exist for hundreds of years.

We still need legislation that would put an end to voter suppression, policing reform, mass incarceration, environmental racial injustice, redlining, gerrymandering, closing the racial wealth gap and more. In Congress, I will make it my mission to do just that.

I hope you will join me not just today, but everyday in this mission.

Tom Nelson